In this section:

ARCH annual report

Extra information

This is and example of a free content area on the left hand side of the site, for
example It could be a quote, a link to documents related to the page or simply an
intersting fact. It is an optional section, so if nothing is apropriate it can be
turned off.

A number of ARCH member councils have raised the issue of the
53-week year and the impact on Universal Credit entitlement for
tenants and rent reductions required under the Welfare Reform &
Work Act.

Most social landlords charge rent on a weekly basis with the
weekly rent debited to the tenants rent account on the Monday of
each week. In most years there are 52 Mondays in the financial year
from 1 April to 31 March but every six to seven years 53 Mondays
fall in a financial year and this will be the case in
2019/20.

As the weekly rent debits are raised on Mondays this means that
in those years the tenants' rent account will be debited with 53
week's rent and the HRA rent debit would "benefit" from an 'extra'
week's rent in a financial year when there are 53 Mondays in a
year. However, in reality tenants will pay their rent for that
particular week at any time in that week as they are paid or
receive their benefit entitlements, although the rent debit would
be charged to the previous financial year.

A number of local authorities have raised the implications of
the" 53-week rent year" in regard to the provisions of section 23
(1) of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 and the interpretation
of what is deemed "payable" in respect of the relevant year. As
2019/20 will be the last year of mandatory rent reductions under
the Welfare Reform & Work Act, there is also a potential
"knock-on" effect in regard to the new social rent policy which
would limit annual rent increases from 2020/21 to a maximum of CPI
+ 1% on the previous year's rent.

The 53-week rent year also has implications for tenants in
receipt of Universal Credit in that the UC regulations are based on
monthly payments and do not recognise 53 weeks and as such without
changes to the regulations or other financial assistance from
government, affected tenants on Universal Credit could end up with
a week's arrears at the end of the financial year, all other issues
remaining unchanged. This is clearly inequitable.